Scott McClellan, spokesman for President George W. Bush and son of state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is leaving his post behind the podium in the White House press room after two years and nine months as the nation's most prominent tackling dummy. He didn't announce his next step, but he's run statewide campaigns in Texas for his mom in the past. Sworn in: Republicans Valerie Corte and Cheri Isett, the brides, respectively, of Reps. Frank Corte of San Antonio and Carl Isett of Lubbock. Both legislators are military reservists called to duty in the Middle East. And both appointed their wives to serve in their spots during the special session. Michael Schneider Jr. won the GOP primary against Beverly Malazzo, but he won't have to wait until the end of the year to replace state District Judge Kent Ellis. Ellis quit early, and Gov. Rick Perry appointed Schneider to fill the spot on the 315th District Court. A few years earlier, Perry appointed Michael Schneider Sr., now a federal judge, to a spot on the Texas Supreme Court. The governor appointed Robert "Bobby" Bland IV of Odessa to be Ector County's District Attorney until after the November elections. He's a former assistant DA there, now in private practice. Gov. Perry appointed Lana Edwards of Hunt, Mike Boyd McKenzie of Kerrville and Karol Schreiner of Hunt to the Upper Guadalupe River Authority. Edwards runs a bed & breakfast; McKenzie is retired; and Schreiner owns a ranch and serves on the Divide ISD. Deaths: Billy Goldberg, former head of the Texas Democratic Party, a banker, attorney, and real estate investor. He was 90.

Boyd Richie, who wants to be the next chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, will hold the job until the party's June convention; the State Democratic Executive Committee named Boyd to serve the remainder of Charles Soechting's term. Soechting says he wants to spend more time with his family and on his law practice. Boyd, who's also the Young County Attorney, will face former lawmaker Glen Maxey of Austin and San Antonio attorney Charlie Urbina Jones in the election at the June convention. MacGregor Stephenson is the new associate vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at the Texas A&M University System. Up till now, he's been a higher education budget and policy wonk for Gov. Rick Perry. The U.S. Senate confirmed Houston attorney Gray Miller's nomination for a federal judgeship. He is -- or was -- a partner at Fulbright & Jaworski and will fill the spot opened when U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein took senior status. Press corps moves: Dallas Morning News reporter Dave Michaels is leaving Austin and that paper for a gig with the Bergen (NJ) Record, where he'll be covering transportation issues. Deaths: Harold Dudley, campaign manager and executive assistant to former Gov. Preston Smith and a veteran of several state agencies, after a nine-year bout with Alzheimer's Disease. He was 82.